Group of bicyclists riding along a country road on a sunny day. Bicycle Committee.

Bicycling Committee

Bicycling Committee | Pictures

Leader Area

Getting to Know Us

The Bicycling Committee offers a variety of rides, workshops, and events that are open to all interested cyclists — AMC members and non-members alike! If you want to see new places, improve your skills, and meet others who enjoy bicycling, this is the group for you. We offer interesting rides and weekend trips of varying lengths and difficulty levels including:

  • Riding Skills Workshop and Intro Ride
  • All day Bicycle Rally with rides, happy hour, dinner
  • Local weekend rides that explore the back roads of rural, coastal and suburban New England
  • Weekend long trips with scenic rides in New Hampshire, the Berkshires, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket

Our evening rides often involve dinner afterwards, and our weekend trips provide an opportunity to socialize off the bike.

Although you do not have to be an AMC member to participate, we hope that if you have a good time, you’ll join our club.

Rides are available at the easy/beginner through advanced levels. To find out more, see the “About Us” section below.

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Activities

About Us

The Boston Chapter Bicycling Committee offers a wide variety of rides to cyclists of all abilities in the greater Boston area and beyond. We have day rides, evening rides, weekend in the mountains or on the Vineyard rides, short rides, long rides, easy rides, advanced rides-something for almost every one.

We also get together socially after the rides or at the annual rally and offer workshops where all can learn to fix a flat, adjust the brakes and ride safely and responsibly.

Our purpose is to bring cyclists together in a friendly social atmosphere in which people can acquire new skills and enhance old ones. Our leaders are all volunteers who have mapped out routes on some of the area’s most beautiful byways.

Most of our rides provide a lead and a sweep, as well as a cue sheet and/or map. We do our best to keep you on track as well as to keep you safe! Helmets are required on all our rides. We also group rides into easy, intermediate or advanced, so that you can ride with others at a similar pace.

Special Programs and Events

Bicycle Rally

https://activities.outdoors.org/dashboard/admin/search/index.cfm/action/details/id/137794/

Riding Skills Workshop and Intro Ride

The Bike Committee offers an annual Riding Skills Workshop that covers traffic and bike path safety, basic bike fit and adjustments and how to use your gears. It consists of a total of two hours each of instruction and practical riding. The 2022 session was held on 6/6/2022 at the Alewife Reservation and Minuteman Bike Path

Leaders’ Appreciation Dinner

Become a bike leader and be rewarded at an annual banquet! Everyone attending enjoys a fine meal, socializes and draws for random door prizes. In addition, certain leaders are generously recognized for their outstanding contributions to the biking program.

Our Rides

Weekday Rides

Tuesday Evening Easy/Intermediate Rides

(mid-May to mid-September)This popular series provides newcomers and/or cyclists not interested in a fast pace with rides of 10-15 miles distance at a moderate pace (11-13 mph) on mostly flat roads with some rolling sections.
Typically rides leave from Lincoln, Concord, Lexington, Newton, Bedford, Weston or other metro west areas nearby Rte. 128 that the leader or co-leader have proposed.
Rides are show and go (no registration necessary) optional dinner afterward.

Thursday Evening Intermediate Rides

(mid-May to mid-September)
This series provides intermediate and advanced riders with evening rides for exercise, recreation and a social aspect.
The rides are show and go, 18-24 miles long, and typically leave from Lincoln, Concord, Lexington, Newton, Bedford, Weston and other areas nearby Rte. 128.
The leaders often arrange for dinner at a local restaurant for after ride camaraderie.

Weekend Rides

Throughout the spring and summer and often into the fall, we offer weekend day rides as often as possible. The rides typically include around 20 participants, a leader and co-leader as lead and sweep, a cue/sheet and/or map, a lunch or ice cream stop and/or post-ride gathering.

Our Easy level day rides are usually 20 to 30 miles long at a 10-13 mph pace. Intermediate rides range from 30 to 50 miles at 13-16 mph and Advanced rides are over 50 miles at a 16mph plus pace.

We choose routes that are as scenic and traffic-free as possible. Rides depart from metro west and north shore locations, and occasionally from the south shore or neighboring states.

Weekend Trips

Throughout the season we offer various weekend getaways that explore back roads in rural and coastal New England. Accommodations range from comfortable B&Bs in the mountains to a unique campground experience on the Vineyard.

Rides are usually in the intermediate range and some trips offer both a short ride (30 miles or less) and a longer ride (45 miles or more) .

Winter Rides

For the hardy cyclist we offer occasional rides in the colder months. On an outing up and down the Minuteman Bike Path or a moonlight ride along the Cape Cod Canal Bike Trail, cyclists stay warm with frequent hot chocolate stops.

Our Leaders

About our leaders:

  • Our leaders are volunteers trained in leading trips.
  • You too can assist; see our Becoming a Leader document.
Special Features

AMC Boston Bike Committee Meetup Group

Many leaders also add their trips to the meetup site, you can join and get alerts about rides there as well.

Click HERE to subscribe. 

Bicycle Committee Meetings

Join the Bicycle Committee and get to know a small group of active bikers who have a lot of fun. We meet monthly from September to May in people’s homes, and over dinner try to come up with ways to maintain and improve our biking program. To join, contact committee chair. We are now meeting via zoom on the 4th Monday of every month.

Bicycle Committee RideWithGPS Account

The committee has a club account with RideWithGPS where GPS routes for our favorite rides are stored. Any leaders can have access to the account


Contacts

Officers

Chair (interim)Mike Barry
SecretaryGail Ferreira
TreasurerSteve Dennen
Past ChairKaren Hall

Coordinators

RallyJack Donohue
Repair WorkshopValerie Paul
Riding Skills/Basic Bike WorkshopMike Barry
Ride CoordinatorJack Donohue
WebmasterJack Donohue
Google GroupsJack Donohue
Tuesday Evening (Easy) RidesBarbara Bix
Thursday Evening (Int.) RidesPaul Noe

Committee Members

Aliza Edwards 
Ben Klass
Karen Hall
Brian Campbell
Bruce Eisenhut 
Daniel Edwards 
Jack Donohue 
Ed McManmon
Fearghas McKay 
Jeff Parker
Gail Ferreira 
Laurie Martinelli 
Leslie Goldstein 
Linda Haines
Marjorie O’Malley 
Mike McIlrath
Mike Barry
Paul Noe
Patricia Lynch 
R. Brooks Sherman 
Rosa Zhang 
Susan Doherty 
Stephen Linder 
Steve Dennen
Valerie Paul